Read more on The Block Island Times

The economic crisis is taking its toll on nearly every industry, and many companies are slashing their marketing budgets to save on expenses. But if we all turn into penny pinchers and scale back on relationship building, our customers are likely to, well, forget about us. Tough times give companies a great opportunity to step out and get noticed; those who keep building relationships are the ones that can fly ahead of the competition.
     Research shows that recessions rarely have an adverse impact on spending overall. In fact, studies in every recession since 1940 show that income — and possibly expenditures — rarely declined more than two percent. People are still spending money and event marketing can get your company in front of clients so they remember you, connect with you, and most importantly, turn to you first with their dollars.
     If your marketing budget is still fairly small, a strategy that typically generates a high return on investment is planning an event. There are plenty of ways to work around even the tightest marketing budget, and creating meaningful events is essential to your success. Whether you’re sponsoring an event or hosting your own, a special event generates immediate interest from potential clients and positions you as a leader in your industry. The result? Brand awareness and maintaining a ‘top of mind’ status.
Staging an event also offers networking benefits; your company can work with local vendors and develop some co-marketing or co-branding initiatives in the future. One of the biggest benefits of event marketing is the word-of-mouth effect that ensues; when clients are excited about a sensational event or interesting activity, they are more than likely tell friends, family members and business associates about it — and are promoting your business as a result. Simply put, hosting an event can be a powerful marketing strategy.
     As an event and marketing professional, I understand the importance of building relationships with vendors and collaborative marketing efforts to get in front of the clients by planning vendor meet and greets, client socials and industry expos. By developing one-of-a-kind experiences for your clients, you’ll naturally increase your ROI and can measure the success of the event with surveys or tracking purchases. Event technology can easily log client activity to determine if purchases were made after the event, and tally survey results within seconds.
I encourage businesses to get in front of your clients by planning events during these turbulent economic times. Here are some helpful tips to get you started on your event:

1. Plan it out. Set attainable goals and expectations for your event and give yourself plenty of time to plan out what you want to achieve by having the event, putting together a budget, and being creative to wow your guests.

2. Collaborate your efforts. This sets the stage for sponsorships and co-marketing ideas by teaming up with vendors. This is a great way to cut costs, build a relationship and rely on each other for referrals as you both grow your business.

3. Hire an event planner or dedicated team member. The last thing you want to do is execute a bad event; you want people raving about the experience, not complaining! If you’re on a very tight budget, consider hiring an event planner only for the day of your event to make sure everything runs smoothly.

4. Promote your business before the event. Plan ahead to create marketing materials and get the publicity you need to promote the event long enough to generate strong interest. Call campaigning is a great strategy to personalize the

 invites by calling attendees to confirm attendance and provides them with the ‘ultimate’ experience from beginning to end.

5. Be resourceful and fun. Consider hosting an event at a restaurant instead of a hotel to save on room fees; most restaurants don’t charge a room fee for private rooms. Having your event at sites that provide entertainment such as a private charter, upscale venue or cooking school can also help provide a unique experience for your guests.

6. Host a late-afternoon soiree. If you can’t afford to host a luncheon or dinner banquet, consider hosting the event from 2:00 — 4:30 so you can serve lights snacks and non-alcoholic beverages instead.

     As John F. Kennedy once said, “When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters-one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”
By building lasting relationships with vendors and clients through event marketing, we can truly see the value in keeping our marketing budgets and seeking opportunity during challenging times.

Jill Lazar is the Marketing Associate /Event Planner for Atrion Networking Corporation in Warwick Rhode Island. She is also the co-owner of Everything Events and has over five years experience planning both corporate and social events. Jill holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Event Management from Johnson & Wales University and a Certificate in Event Planning from US Event Guide; she is currently completing an MBA in Marketing from Johnson & Wales University.

The commercial event planner will assist you during the foremost obstacles while scheduling your enjoyable business events for instance budget the celebration so that you are not jammed at some point of the finishing stages by means of variety of the correct goods so that you must keep everybody smiling. They must be familiar with the top catering companies, which will provide the excellent foods for your customer’s at the reasonable cost. Besides, they have many experiences during other factors for instance the decoration of the occasion to create certain everything is coordinated with the best colors possible that are tailor made for your party. They also have the right amount of staff ready ahead of time to make sure everything is execute according to your plan. Everything will go smoothly and your stress levels are kept to a minimum. They make the decisions that you are not experienced in making.

Therefore, if you are with corporate event planning then you have the estimate need of what you desire, they will have to inform the planner in which scale you want to do. The schemer will then labor to the necessities you have agreed them, organise the chairs, book the amusement, and insert any additional touches with the intention of thinking determination will assist to get better the happening and make an impression for the people presence it.

Read more on Fox News

With fresh mountainous air, soothing surroundings, and magnificent views, Whistler provides wonderful retreat for health and wellness getaways. Further, Whistler is home to one of the premier wellness festivals in North America, namely, Whistler Wellness Week – an annual event featuring more than 50 innovative wellness workshops, demonstrations, and informative seminars throughout a week, all of which are focused on a variety of fitness and health-related topics, from yoga and meditation to diet supplements and nutrition.

A plethora of other events and celebrations are conducted here in order to promote a healthy lifestyle. In short, Whistler is truly a mecca for health and wellness, with a variety of alpine spa facilities, physiotherapy centers, chiropractic service providers, yoga studios, and Pilates classes.

After a day or two of adventurous as well as tiring skiing or snowmobiling activities, pamper yourself with a superb, rejuvenating spa treatment in any of the many spa facilities located within the backdrop of breathtaking alpine vistas. Usually, the treatments provided by these spa facilities are limitless, ranging from soothing massages and beauty treatments to professional waxing and facials. Among the different types of massages are Swedish massage, sports massage, deep tissue massage, traditional Thai massages, Shiatsu massage, and Lava stone massage.

Specialized massages are also available. For instance, if you are a to-be mom, then relax and sooth your as well as your baby’s mind and body with a prenatal massage. Likewise, for those who want to share the pampering spa experience with their other half, friend, or lover, then one of the best choices would be to take specialized spa massages such as couples massage. There are also some spa facilities in Whistler, specializing in providing integrative healing by blending ancient Eastern therapeutics and modern western medicine.

If you want to give professional care for your injuries or fracture that occurred while skiing or snowboarding in Whistler, then head to one of the reputable physiotherapy centers in the region. Many of the physiotherapy clinics here provide services of registered physiotherapists to offer manual therapies to care and heal pain and inflammation. In some instance, if your injury is complex, then a combined treatment of both manual and neuromuscular techniques are adopted in order to alleviate and heal pain and injuries. Besides, these clinics render extensive recovery programs for dealing with a myriad of problems such as back aches, knee sprains, and soft tissue injuries.

Health and wellness facilities in Whistler also consist of a number of chiropractic clinics, which are focused to deal with the problems in connection with musculoskeletal as well as nervous system. Other complementary and alternative medicinal facilities here are acupuncture and herbal medicines.

For those seeking fitness and solace of mind, a great alternative would be take yoga classes. With a continuum of yoga health studios in the region, you can experience a relaxing Ashtanga, Hatha, Restorative, and Vinyasa yogas in the sun-lit yoga rooms. Many of these clinics render all that are required for a great Yoga experience, such as, bolsters, blankets, mats, straps, and towels. In addition, different types of yoga classes are available according to your level and requirement. For example, if you are a beginner seeking calming as well as therapeutic yoga classes, then basic or foundation classes would be most suitable for you. Likewise, for those with adequate experience in Yoga training, some of the best options are Yoga classes in the form of Power Vinyasa and Yoga Pilates inclusive of intensive Pilates exercise. Some excellent Yoga sessions are also available for stress management and for those with wounds.

In addition, in order to enhance your self confidence and inner as well as outer strength, a best choice would be to take martial arts classes with such facilities as Whistler Martial Arts Centre. Other health and wellness options available in Whistler include an array of nutrition outlets with the service of specialists, professional fitness training centers, aromatherapy clinics, and dental and other medical care establishments.

When occasions such as weddings, engagements etc come up, the best person to hire is an event photographer. These events are characterized by certain special moments which need to be captured by an event photographer. These special pictures need to be handled with care. There is plenty of creativity that goes into this. There needs to be the right angle from where the photographs need to be taken. The beauty of every photograph lies in the way in which it is captured. For a photographer what he sees and pictures through his eyes need to be put on the photo when he looks through the camera lens.

If you are looking for an event photographer you need to make sure that the choice you make is the right one failing which you will have to face problems with the photographs of your event. There are professional photographers who make use of the best digital equipments which will provide you with a clarity that is just marvelous. If you look online you will be able to locate the best event photographer. All that you need to do is check their portfolio. There are several professionals who provide online services where you can look for your images online and approve it. In this manner working with them becomes much easier.

There are other corporate photographers too who take care of the commercial side of photography. You might think where these people work. They work for several companies in creating their advertisements, designs and portraits for their products. A Corporate photographer needs to be very creative because his creativity and fresh ideas is what projects a product into the market gaining the attraction of prospective buyers.
A corporate photographer also needs to take care of the images created, its resolution, the way the idea is projected. They take care of the annual reports that are made for the company, focusing on where to add the right pictures with the best possible combination of colors. Every thriving industry requires such a corporate photographer, because they provide the best tools for marketing in the form of brochures. These require the portrayal of the said company in a manner that attracts people giving them an access to the latest products.

Read more on Quincy Herald-Whig

Read more on The Huffington Post

After arriving on Guana Island you ride up to the Great House on Golf Carts , and after familiarization of the ‘local rules’ you are taken to your room, which is one of only fifteen rooms in white stone cottages, so the maximum number of guests at any one time would be thirty. Thirty guests in over eight hundred acres is not what anyone could call crowded but then again one has to assume that anyone on a private island honeymoon or wanting a total getaway would be looking for.

By the way if fourteen other couples you don’t know is too much for you, it isn’t difficult to book Guana Island in its entirety for your family and friends, and have the wedding on your own, very own private island!!

Rooms are spacious, with a separate sitting area and a private terrace with glorious views. The bathrooms have an extra large shower and good amenities. If you seek the ultimate in privacy making your getaway honeymoon on Guana that bit more special then you can book North Beach Cottage which is extremely private, hidden away on its own beach with a private pool and a golf cart to transport you back to the Great House. It has spectacular views of the Atlantic from everywhere and has its own kitchenette.

Guana Island is all inclusive, in that you get three meals a day plus wines at dinner and lunch, afternoon tea, coffee and snacks, plus all activities on the island and WiFi internet service even though this is supposed to be a private island getaway, so who needs it!!

You will pay an extra charge for Massages, beverages outside meal time wine, water skiing, fishing trips, sunset cruises, castaway picnics, lessons from tennis professional, yoga, scuba diving, boat charters, and visits to other islands.

All in all Guana Island has seven quite superb beaches, and although described as a five star Caribbean Resort it ought to be best described as rustic luxury. If you need 21st Century facilities and constant entertainment then this private island getaway won’t be for you.

However if you are happy to explore this island retreat, enjoy the views, and the beaches, meet interesting people who feel like you do, then you can’t go far wrong on this unique British Virgin Island resort.

For example you won’t find air conditioning in your room, but ample sea breezes to keep you cool.

No radio or television, what a treat in itself, in fact because of the size of the island you can escape and spend hours by yourself if that is what you want to do. Having said that there will always be a member of staff with a warm smile, offering unobtrusive but very effective friendly service. In fact you will feel like royalty the service is so good

Private island honeymoon food needs to be special, and the five star resort of Guana Island doesn’t disappoint. The menu changes every day, and is fresh according to what is available. Meals are served dinner part style on a picturesque patio overlooking the ocean below. If however you want to dine alone as part of your romantic honeymoon then this is easily fixed for you.

Breakfast has the classic buffet, but also cooked specials, in fact almost anything you want. Lunch is also a buffet, and could be barbeque, or calamari, quiche, and it’s different every day.

Dinner which follows the traditional cocktail hour is a set menu although there is a choice of entrée. The food is a culinary masterpiece so don’t be put off by the apparent lack of choice, and the desserts are just heaven.

Guana Island may not be for everyone but for a private island Caribbean honeymoon it is unbeatable. The best Tortola Hotel if you need a private island getaway by far.

For more information on Caribbean Hideaway Hotels http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com/categories/Caribbean-Hotel-Hideaways/